Warm Hawaiian sun. Lazy beach days. Flirty texts with her boyfriend back in Seattle.These
are the things seventeen-year-old Sloane McIntyre pictured when she
imagined the summer she’d be spending at her mom’s home in Hawaii with
her twin brother, Penn. Instead, after learning an unthinkable secret
about her boyfriend, Tyler, and best friend, Mick, all she has is a
fractured hand and a completely shattered heart.Once she arrives
in Honolulu, though, Sloane hopes that Hawaii might just be the escape
she needs. With beach bonfires, old friends, exotic food, and the
wonders of a waterproof cast, there’s no reason Sloane shouldn’t enjoy
her summer. And when she meets Finn McAllister, the handsome son of a
hotel magnate who doesn’t always play by the rules, she knows he’s the
perfect distraction from everything that’s so wrong back home.But
it turns out a measly ocean isn’t nearly enough to stop all the emails,
texts, and voicemails from her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend,
desperate to explain away their betrayal. And as her casual connection
with Finn grows deeper, Sloane’s carefree summer might not be as easy to
find as she’d hoped. Weighing years of history with Mick and Tyler
against their deception, and the delicate possibility of new love,
Sloane must decide when to forgive, and when to live for herself.

While I'm starting to dive into the contemporary genre, I'm still nervous about it. But when I read the synopsis for this book, I knew that I had to read it! Hawaii, betrayal, and a cute boy... sign me up!

When Sloane gets her heart broken by her best friend and boyfriend, she's happy to go to Hawaii to visit her mother over the summer. But being miles away from home doesn't keep the heartbreak away. However, when she meets a cute boy, that makes the heartache a little easier to deal with.

Yes, the betrayal by the two people closest to her is cheating, and that's one of the most important things in the book. And while it does seem a bit over dramatic in the sense that they are all teenagers, it does seem real and you can't help but hurt for Sloane. her pain is so believable, and I just wanted to give her a huge and punch her best friend and boyfriend. But Sloane was strong and was able to keep herself together and still enjoy her summer.

The problem that I sometimes have with contemporary is that it doesn't keep my attention. My thoughts drift away and I think about other things. Not with this book. This book kept my attention and I couldn't wait to know what would happen next, whether it was a scene with Finn (the cute boy mentioned earlier), Sloane dealing with her heartbreak, or her with her family. I also found the characters easy to connect with. Sometimes I can't form a connection with contemporary romance characters, but I found myself actually caring about them and hoping they get a happily ever after.

Overall, this was a sweet contemporary romance that I couldn't put down! Even though it's beachy with the Hawaiian setting, you could read this book anywhere, not only the beach with the sun on your back and toes in the sand. I can't wait to read future books by this author, and more books with Hawaiian settings!

Erin L. Schneider is native to the Pacific Northwest, attended college in Honolulu, and - although Hawaiian - should never be allowed on a surfboard. With more than twenty years in corporate merchandising, she’s now a full-time writer living in Seattle with her husband, Neal; their baby boy, Kellan; a rowdy German shepherd named Ronin; and two crazy cats, Ono and Poke. She’s a member of both the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and SCBWI, and is also co-founder of the YA Buccaneers.